A shaft of sunlight broke through a gap in the drapes, falling on her face.  Shifting a bit, she stubbornly kept her eyes shut, determined to enjoy his embrace for as long as possible.  He was spooned up against her back, snoring softly near her left ear.

Oh, she had missed this!  How had she survived a whole year without him?  Aside from the constant fear that he might be killed, she had had to deal with the emptiness of her life.  She had a job, family, friends, but none of that could fill the void he had left went he shipped out for Iraq.

Yesterday had been a dizzying round of reunions, hugs, and kisses as everyone came by to welcome him home.  She could tell he was overwhelmed at times, but he did his best to take it all in stride.  Occasionally she had felt his eyes on her and she had turned to find him watching her intensely.  The smoldering sensuality in his eyes made her pulse race and she had flushed every time, earning a wry grin from him.  Then someone would demand his attention and the intimate moment was over.

By the time the door had closed behind the last of them at 9:30, they were exhausted.  She hummed happily as she cleaned the kitchen and he showered.  The mental picture of him standing in the shower with hot, soapy water sluicing down his body made her hurry.

The shower had shut off as she put the last plate in the dishwasher and she smiled as her excitement built.  She was dying to put on the new black lace baby doll nightie she had bought in anticipation of his homecoming.  Drying her hands, she hung up the hand towel and took a deep, steadying breath, trying to calm the trembling in her stomach.  In some ways, she was more nervous than she had been on their wedding night.  She could tell his time in Iraq had changed him, but she was willing to accept that he might not be the same guy who had left a year ago, just as she had changed too.  They would need to get to know each other all over again.

Padding barefoot down the hall, she paused at the bedroom door.  Pushing it open, she peered inside.  The bathroom light cast a bar of light across the bed and she sighed as she saw him sprawled there in nothing but a towel.  She moved towards the bed and heard him snoring.  The heaviness low in her pelvis intensified as her eyes wandered his nakedness hungrily.  He was leaner and more heavily muscled than she remembered.  His cheeks were hollow and the line of his jaw was more sharply defined.  One thing that hadn’t changed was the firm line of his lips, slack now as he slept.

With a last wistful thought for the nightie and the activities it would have inspired, she set about removing the damp towel and maneuvering him so she could pull the sheet and blanket over him.  There would be time for mind-blowing, marathon sex later.  Right now he just needed to sleep, safe in their bed. 

His arm tensed around her waist and she knew he was awake as the cadence of his breathing picked up.  She made a move to roll over and his arm tightened.  “Don’t move,” he rasped, then turned his head to bury his nose in her silky red hair, inhaling deeply.  She stilled, smiling as his hand began to wander over the soft skin of her abdomen.  “You kept your hair long for me,” he murmured appreciatively.

“I didn’t just do it for you.  I happen to like it long,” she argued, only half teasing.

“Mmmm-hmmm, right.  Is that why it was so short when I met you?”  His hand was making its leisurely way up to her left breast and she began to tense as desire curled in her belly.

“I hadn’t worn it long since I was little.  I forgot how much easier it is to style when it’s long.”  He stroked along the underside of her breast, deliberately avoiding the peak that was erect and begging for attention.  She squirmed a little, pressing her hips back against the hard ridge that was nudging the cleft of her bottom.

His lips nibbled around the curve of her ear and sucked at her earlobe before moving on to the sensitive skin of her neck.  “What else did you save for me?” he whispered, pressing a moist, open-mouthed kiss to the sweet spot where her shoulder sloped into her neck.

Shivering a little as goose bumps raced down her arms, she tried to make sense of his words.   Save?  She rolled over quickly to face him.  “All of me,” she said somberly, staring into his brilliant blue eyes.  “I love you.”  The words had a depth and meaning they had never had before.

“I love you more,” he replied as always, with a quirk of his lips.  He pulled her flush against him and she thrilled to the feel of his body filling in the slopes and valleys of her own so perfectly.  Hooking a hand behind her knee, he pulled her leg up to rest on his hip.  He stroked up her thigh leisurely, pausing at the curve of her hip to reach back and palm her butt.  “Mmmm, baby, I missed this so much,” he murmured, closing his eyes to heighten his sense of touch.  She strained closer to him, aching to join their bodies at last.  She had expected their first round of lovemaking to be fast and frenzied.  Instead, he seemed determined to draw it out.  While she appreciated the slow build up, another part of her wanted to hurry.  She groaned as the knot of need at her core ached.

She laid her palms against his well-defined pecs and slid her hands over his smooth skin, lightly pinching his flat nipples.  He growled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him and trapping her hands against him.  She looked into his handsome face.  His features were taut with concentration as he held his desire in check.  She leaned forward to kiss him and he groaned deeply as he opened his mouth.  Her tongue rasped across his and she moaned, unbearably aroused by his taste and textures.  Her hips jerked towards him and her kisses became frenzied as desire consumed her.

Rolling on top of her, he propped himself up on his elbows and broke off the kiss.  Resting his forehead on hers, he rested there a moment, breathing heavily.  After a long moment he raised his head to look at her.  “Easy, babe.  If we don’t slow down it’s gonna be over too quick, and I’ve dreamed of this too long to rush it.”

She teased him with a sly smile and a roll of her hips.  “C’mon, honey.  You keep this up any longer and I just might burst into flame.”

Framing her face with his large, rough hands, he looked at her seriously.  “I love you.”  She opened her mouth to reply and his fingers pressed into her temples, demanding that she listen.  “I love you more than I ever dreamed I could ever love a woman.  This year away from you—“ he said hoarsely, breaking off to swallow hard.  “It was hard, but it gave me time to realize…how blessed I am.  I just wanted you to know.”

Her mouth went dry and her mind was numb as the magnitude of his words sank in.  She licked her lips.  “I’m the one who is blessed.  Blessed to have you back, safe and whole.  Blessed to have your love.”

Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly.  Her hands clutched at his back and her back arched off the bed as her passion soared.  Settling between her thighs, he paused one last agonizing moment before easing his way slowly into her.

She forgot to breathe as her inner walls stretched to accommodate him and for a minute she couldn’t move as intense pleasure radiated from the place they were joined.  Finally she started to move, slowly, clenching her fists in the bedding as she fought the overwhelming urge to pick up the pace.  She looked up to find him watching her face tenderly.  He smiled a bit and leaned down to kiss her again.  Running her hands down his ribs and over his lean hips, she cupped his buttocks and squeezed, pulling him in tighter, deeper.  They both uttered a groan of pleasure.

The pace increased from there, building the tension until she was sure she couldn’t take any more.  The pinnacle was there, just out of reach, and she tilted her hips to take him over the edge.  With a soft cry she came, stronger and more intensely than she ever had before, and a moment later he gave a guttural shout as he joined her.

Her internal muscles continued to spasm for long moments afterward and he stayed inside her, enjoying the slick heat of her.  Even after the last tremor had faded he remained buried deep inside her, as though reluctant to break their connection.  His weight was crushing her into the mattress, but she didn’t care.  Kissing her way up from his shoulder to his ear, she ended with a sharp nip to his earlobe.

He jerked his head away in surprise.  “Hey!” he said with a chuckle.  “Since when do you bite?”

“That was for making me wait so long.”

He rolled to his back, pulling her with him to lie across his chest.  His hand idly stroked her back.  “It was worth it, don’t ya think?”

Laying her hand on his chest, she rested her chin on it.  “Yes.”  He grinned at her.  “But don’t do it again,” she said with mock sternness.

He lifted his free hand to run his knuckles down her soft cheek.  “Oh, but I will, every chance I get,” he murmured with a devilish grin.  She shut her eyes and leaned her cheek into his hand.  “Baby?” he whispered as his thumb stroked the curve of her cheek.

“Mmm-hmm?”  Her eyes fluttered open and he was speechless for a moment, mesmerized by the soft brown depths.  There were so many things he wanted to tell her.  Like how he had clung to the knowledge that she was waiting for him through the long hot days.  Like how thoughts of her had sustained him through the grueling patrols and how he had pulled out her picture a dozen times a day until it was worn thin.  How his arms had ached to hold her through the long, stifling nights.  She had been his anchor through all the hell he had endured and there had been times he thought he would lose his mind if not for her.  She was watching him curiously, waiting for him to speak, but he couldn’t do it, not now.  This moment was perfect, and he didn’t want to sully it with talk of any of the ugliness he had been through.  He would tell her later.

His face was so serious, she wondered what he was thinking, but then he smiled as though he had pushed the thoughts away.  “It’s good to be home,” he said finally.  She smiled, letting him think she hadn’t seen.  He would tell her when he was ready.

“It’s good to have you home.”  Settling down beside him, she snuggled into his side and sighed contentedly, feeling complete for the first time in a year.